A profile in cowardice

If George W. Bush thinks that Karl Rove didn’t do what Matt Cooper’s notes say he did, Bush ought to defend his friend against a false accusation.

If George W. Bush subscribes to the latest appalling wingnut notion — that any CIA officer who disagrees with White House policy deserves to be outed — then he ought to have the manhood to stand up and say so, expressing his support for his friend’s action. (He might explain later why his friend felt he had to do such an honorable and patriotic deed on “double super secret background.”)

But if he believes that his friend did what he’s accused of, and still believes that outing an undercover CIA officer is “a criminal action,” then he ought to put loyalty to county ahead of loyalty to friend and faction, and ask for Rove’s resignation, or at the very least put him on paid leave and suspend his access to classified information.

The sad news is that the President of the United States is, not at all a fool, but rather an utterly unprincipled coward.